In Praise of Climbing

Family on the Run
Christine, Mathieu, and their three children 

Follow the adventures of Christine Labrie’s family. A historian by training and mother of three young children, she’s also a lover of adventure, the outdoors, and fine dining—and she loves traveling the world with her family. To her, everything is exotic and worth the trip, from Laos to Chisasibi, and from the Canary Islands to Laval!

We’re pleased to share another account from a family from Sherbrooke—two adults and three children—who spent a week in the Laval area during their summer vacation. Here is the fascinating story of their stay! 

If there’s one phrase we never tire of repeating to our kids, it’s this: “Don’t climb there.” When they’re not climbing on couches or furniture, they’re climbing all over us—their parents—and if you see us with clothes that are all wrinkled and out of shape, it’s probably partly because the kids are constantly clinging to us.

In that sense, they’re perfectly normal. Climbing is one of our earliest instincts, and it’s likely our modern lifestyles—full of escalators and elevators—that prevent us from developing this skill.

For kids, the playground is the only place where they can really climb all over the place—depending, of course, on their parents’ tolerance for risk. While with our first child we used to run around the play structures trying to prevent every potential fall, these days our strategy is more about looking away so we don’t have to worry about them.

In short, all this to say that the idea of letting kids climb however they please—while sparing parents the constant fear that their offspring might end up in the hospital—was the most urgent issue to address after, perhaps, global warming.

Well, that’s now a reality thanks to Clip ‘n Climb ( so we can now devote all our energy to saving the world), an indoor climbing center where belaying is fully automated. That means you can go climbing alone if you don’t have any friends available, or with a group, and you can all race up the walls at the same time.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved our hour of climbing! Right from the start, we lost sight of Ulysse, only to find him a few minutes later at the top of a rock face. No need to worry here—the many staff members on hand ensure that every climb is safe. Samuel and Eva, for their part, tackled climbs suited to their skill levels, and Eva quickly gave up on the goal of reaching the very top to devote herself entirely to the joys of rappelling.

Even we parents, who so often have to settle for being mere spectators, were able to join in with our children this time—and we certainly didn’t hold back on having fun!

Last night, before going to bed, Samuel told us, his eyes sparkling, that he had really, really loved rock climbing. I think we’re going to have to go back… often!

#experiencelaval #familyontherun